1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly to a control panel of a microwave oven having a slide type power control knob assembly which allows a user to easily distinguish the same with other controlling assemblies such as a time control knob.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a microwave oven is an appliance for cooking a food with microwave of high frequency. Recently, the microwave oven is popular for its advantage that it cooks the food in a relatively short period of time and maintains the original shape of a cooked object.
Such a microwave oven is comprised of a body 1 and a control panel 10 formed at a front side of the body 1. The control panel 10 is formed with a switch 11 for starting/stopping the operation of the microwave oven, a power control knob 12 for controlling the output power of the microwave, and a time control knob 13 for presetting a period of time in which the microwave is projected to the food.
More advanced type of microwave oven would be installed with a plurality of other selection switches for presetting other data proper to respective operational conditions thereof and choosing such preset data when needed.
A power control knob 12 is connected with a power control shaft of a timing device (not shown). The timing device controls the output power of the microwave by controlling the electric power to be supplied intermittently to the magnetron according to the set condition of the power control knob.
The time control knob 13 is connected with a time control shaft of the timing device. The magnetron is operated within a time preset by the time control knob 13.
Reference numeral 2 in the drawing indicates a door, and 3 indicates a rotatable tray whereon the food to be cooked is loaded.
In the conventional microwave oven, however, both of the power control knob and the time control knob are in the similar circular shape, so a user cannot easily distinguish one from the other. This means that the user has to take special care in order to operate right knob between the power control knob and the time control knob.